We have a large vegetable garden including a “very sincere” patch of rhubarb! We have a “Fresh Rhubarb for Sale” notice at a local Laundromat. This past week we had a couple ladies (sisters) come out to get enough rhubarb for a pie. One of the sisters was visiting from Minnesota where she too has enjoyed raising big vegetable gardens and loves to make rhubarb pie and wanted to make one for her sister here in Libby. She of course, wanted to wander around in our garden and see all we had growing. I was glad I was fairly caught up on weeding and she was quite impressed. I told her, “It just happened!” She responded, “Yeah, right!” She was well aware of the time we had spent to have the garden looking as it did.
I was reminded of how many people—probably the majority now-a-days— can look at God’s amazing creation and say, “It just happened.” How can anyone look at the intricacies of a “simple” flower, or the unbelievable instincts of migratory birds, or the orderliness of our solar system that enabled our space program to actually send men to the moon, or to send a probe to take pictures of Mars, or the amazing reproductive abilities of both plants and animals, or the complexity of the human body and its hundreds of miles of nerves, blood vessels, etc, and say that these things “just happened.” That’s why evolutionists insist on such huge dates for the age of the universe and the earth. They are hoping that “given enough time, the impossible becomes possible.” Yet these same people will look at someone’s garden, or an oil painting, or a sculpture, or a restored classic car and they will acknowledge how much time and expert care must have gone into what they are admiring. And it is true, man has made—and continues to make—some wonderful things, demonstrating the abilities God as given us, as being made in His image (Gen. 1:26,27).
We like to collect rocks, as is evidenced by all those in the landscaping around our property. Let’s say we are hiking one day and, as usual, are looking along the path for special rocks to add to our collection, when we come upon an arrowhead. Naturally, it stands out from the rest of the rocks for there is evidence that it has been crafted by man. It didn’t happen just from natural processes and time and chance. I am typing this “Wisdom of the Week” on a keyboard which uses a word processor to place the letters I am choosing to convey my thoughts on the computer screen so I can read them. The keyboard and accompanying monitor and hard drive surely didn’t “Just happen.” They were designed and built by someone who has skills which to me are unimaginable. And think about this. If I sat a monkey in my chair and waited for him to type up the “Wisdom of the Week” as I dictated it to him, I wonder how long that would take?! No amount of time makes the impossible become possible. God is the only one who can do the “impossible,” and He needs no time to do it. He used a week to create the universe with its billions of galaxies each containing billions of stars and then to create the earth and everything on it and in it (Gen. 1,2; Neh. 9:6). He could have done it all instantaneously, but He chose a week to set the pattern for the work week (Ex. 20:9,10) and for His covenant with Abraham and the nation, Israel, which he would father (Gen. 12:1-3).
One of the features of what God created—the trees, the stream beds, man, etc.— is that it had appearance of age built into it, yet it had just come into being. Our earth may have the “appearance” of age, but according to genealogical records in Scripture, it has only been around 6,000 years since Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden. There are many scientific observations, such as the current size of the sun, the helium in the atmosphere, the strength of the polarity of the poles, the amount of salt in the sea, etc., which also provide evidence for a young earth. Evolutionists have added their millions and billions of years to grope for an explanation to what they see around them in nature. Since they cannot find any evidence for evolution currently taking place, they hope that going back in time it may have occurred. Embarrassingly for them, the only thing they have to look at is the fossil record which shows distinct species and no transitional forms. As they look for “missing links,” they haven’t a “leg to stand on”! Yet most stick to their theories (which end up being taught as “scientific fact”) because they do not want to acknowledge the existence of a Creator to whom they are accountable.
One of the fascinating things about the origin of the earth, according to the only one who was there when it happened—God, is that some of the things were “created” (i.e., made from nothing—just spoken into existence), while others were “made” (i.e., constructed out of what God had already created…like making man from the dust of the ground, and then taking a rib from man and making a woman). During Jesus’ earthly ministry, we see Him demonstrating the same power He used back at the creation of the universe (cf Jn. 1:1-3), as He turned water into wine, healed blind eyes, restored withered arms, fed thousands with a boy’s sack lunch, etc.
It is sad when someone puts a lot of time into a product, be it a painting, an invention, writing a book, crafting a violin, or whatever, and someone else is given the credit for it. How much more tragic when people view what God has made and credit it all to time and chance. The Apostle Paul speaks of such folks in his letter to the Romans, saying, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly see, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse…Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures…For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…” (Ro. 1:18-25).
When it comes to God’s creation, let’s give credit to Whom credit is due! Scientist Isaac Newton said: “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” Albert Einstein said, “Searching for God’s design is the source of true art and science.” Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” “Looking out the window you really can tell He is a God of wonders and we appreciate being able to take a look out and enjoy the view…If there’s a story to tell, there’s a storyteller. If there’s a work of art, there’s an artist” (Astronaut Rick Husband, ten days before the Columbia space shuttle’s re-entry ended tragically). Inventor Thomas Alva Edison admitted, “Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge.” All of creation bears God’s autograph! It didn’t just happen!
And then think on this: Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the universe are pointed away from the earth???
Forever His,
Pastor Dave
Wisdom of The Week 